MADISON — A Madison County woman was sentenced to the maximum penalty of 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to aggravated assault for setting her former boyfriend on fire, District Attorney John K. “Bubba” Bramlett announced Tuesday.
Kalena Stubbs, 51, entered the plea in Madison County Circuit Court. The charge stems from a January 16, 2025, incident in which deputies responded to a home where a man was found with severe burns across his torso, arms and face.
Sheriff’s deputies said they became suspicious when they noticed the victim’s clothes were not burned, despite the extent of his injuries. Stubbs told investigators the man had fallen into a fireplace while holding a bottle of lighter fluid. Deputies noted an open bottle of lighter fluid sitting on the mantle that appeared untouched by flames.
The victim was flown by AirCare to the University of Mississippi Medical Center and later transferred to multiple out-of-state burn units and nursing facilities while recovering from third-degree burns to his upper body. He was initially unable to speak, but months later told investigators Stubbs had doused him with lighter fluid and set him on fire during an argument. Investigators said his account matched the burn pattern on his body.
“These injuries were horrific and some of the most severe we have seen,” Bramlett said in a statement. He credited the Madison County Sheriff’s Department for its persistence in the case and said he hopes the sentence provides the victim some measure of justice.
Stubbs will serve her sentence in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections.
